Today at 12:22 and 12:23 p.m. EST, the two newest members of our family were born! Laura's water broke during the night - and since one baby was breech, the doctor had her meet him at the hospital to do a c-section.Baby A - Alice Robin Chabo arrived first, weighing 4 lbs 15 oz.Baby B - Penelope Anne (Penny) Chabo weighed 5 lbs 3 oz.Alice has really dark hair and, Penny, light brown hair.Everyone is doing well! Can't wait to hold these two new little ones!!

Bob and I will drive to Ohio this Friday and I will stay to help out until after the first of the year. Bob will return to Ohio for Christmas.

I had to smile when I read my last post and saw that I hoped to have all my unpacking done by the end of the first week of November. Ha! (Not realistic, indeed.) The main floor of the house is nearly complete — and certainly livable — and I'm making progress on the two rooms upstairs. i.e. I painted my studio a few days ago and started assembling a work table and bookshelf I bought at Ikea. There are still lots of boxes upstairs though, and not only have I slowed the pace at which I'm getting things done — but, now, its nearly Thanksgiving!

I've decided its better to pace myself, though, and enjoy the holiday rather than try to push frantically through getting "everything" done. It will all get done eventually. . .

Our daughters, Heather and Susy, plus Susy's two little ones came for a visit during my birthday weekend. (Nov 12-14) We had a great time and really enjoyed their visit!! We even went to a neighborhood holiday craft fair while they were here and Susy and I both won door prizes! Did I remember to pull the camera out, even once, during their visit? Of course not. So I have no cute photos of Lily and Claire (Susy's girls) to share. :-(

We're looking forward to having our youngest son, John, his wife, Amanda, and their daughter, Abby, visit us for a few days over Thanksgiving. Abby turns two in March, so I will look around at what items may need to be placed out of the reach of tiny hands. This week will involve extensive grocery shopping (I've already compiled the lengthy list); some cleaning and laundry; a little more unpacking; baking; prepping for the big Turkey Dinner; and, then, just relaxing and enjoying some family time for a few days. (Perhaps we'll watch some "Punkin Chunkin" on TV) LOL!

AND THEN THERE'S CHRISTMAS. Yikes! Last week I mailed our combo address change / btw "Merry Christmas" postcard — and I've wrapped and begun packaging the gifts, (meager as they are) but, still have one more thing to add to each package. A couple of months ago I started making a little something for each of our kids and am not even half done with those. Its not much, but I want to include it in each Christmas package. So, I'm thinking I'll have enough time during the week after Thanksgiving to get them done, and then, I can put everything in the mail that first week in December.

Because, after that, I'll be in Ohio for a while! Our daughter, Laura's, twins are due any time and I will head to Ohio as soon as I'm needed. It will be fun to be around some of our grandchildren (Sophia, Holly and Lucy, plus the new twins) during the Christmas season! Really looking forward to that!! And, of course, I hope to be as much help to Laura as I can. We are very grateful for the news that Baby A finally turned and is no longer breech. It was looking like Laura might have to have a c-section. (Baby B has been quietly behaving herself, causing no such concern.) Now, Laura will, hopefully, not need one, and will have a quicker recovery from the delivery. Adjusting to caring for twins will take a bit longer, I expect. Exciting times, though!!!